Paper Mario

Paper Buddies

Note: Hello hello! Here's the first part of the third chapter! When Lava Piranha makes an appearance, will the buddies be able to stop him?

Chapter Three – A Lava-Hot Time!

Part One – Through Fire and Flames!

"Kooper..." a voice said through the darkness. "Kooper..."

"W-Wha...?" Kooper said groggily, looking up. In front of him was Eldstar, one of the honorable Star Spirits. "I must be dreaming..." he said, closing his eyes again.

"Kooper!" Eldstar shouted, and Kooper jumped up, surprised. "Woh! This isn't a dream!" he exclaimed. "Of course it isn't!" Misstar said, and Kooper looked around him, even more surprised to find that all of the honorable Star Spirits were around him.

Looking around, Kooper noticed for the first time that he was at the top of Shooting Star Summit. "What are the odds of that?" he wondered out loud. Eldstar cleared his throat. "I believe it was fate that has brought you here," he explained, "For you are the one who must defeat Bowser and restore peace to the Mushroom Kingdom."

Kooper shook his head. "N-No, there's no way I can do that single-handedly!" he said. "Of course, you'll need the help of your friends," Eldstar continued, "But I'm afraid that they are all being held captive, since their defeat atop Mt. Rugged."

"Man...It's going to be tough getting into Bowser's castle..." Kooper thought out loud. "Do not worry," Klevar said, "We can give you the power you will need to save them all!"

Kooper nodded and smiled. "Yeah! That'd be an honor!"...But then, he frowned, and looked at all of the Star Spirits. "Wait!" he exclaimed, "Koopo said something about getting his powers from an honorable Star Spirit..."

Eldstar raised an eyebrow. "One of us? Why! That is preposterous! Surely we would refrain from giving powers to those who cannot use them for the right reasons." he said, looking around at the others, "...Right?"

The seven Star Spirits started to glance at each other, aware that one of them could be a traitor. "How can we know for sure who it is?" Skolar asked. "Well," Eldstar said, "If one of us is giving powers away, then the ones they were given to must have had similar powers to that Star Spirit."

"So," Eldstar said, turning back to Kooper, "Was there any ability that this friend of yours had that may tell who did this?" Kooper put his hand on his chin in thought. "Well...He made a bunch of stars fly down at us from the sky," he said, "A storm of stars.."

Suddenly, it hit him. "Star Storm..." he said, and all eyes turned towards Skolar. "Wh-Why is everyone looking at me like that?" he asked. "Skolar," Eldstar said, "Surely you have not been doing this." Skolar laughed, and said, "I know how this looks, but I can assure you..."

He trailed off as the glares and looks of uncertainty came onto everyone's faces...

"Fine!" he shouted, floating up into the air, "If you insist upon pointing fingers, then I shall have to get rid of you all right now!" Skolar put his 'hands' up into the air, and the ground started to tremble.

"What's going on?" Kooper said. "I'm not sure. Quickly! You must leave!" Eldstar told him. Kooper turned and was about to flee...but something suddenly erupted from the ground, shooting high up into the air.

Turning around, Kooper watched as the largest Piranha Plant he had ever seen emerged, with two buds beside it. It's erupted in fire, and stuck out it's large tongue as if mocking the Star Spirits. "Lava Piranha!" Skolar shouted, "Rid of the Spirits, and that pesky Koopa!"

Lava Piranha shot it's head down and ate Muskular in one bite. "Oh no!" Misstar said, and the Star Spirits, attempted to fly away, but Lava Piranha extended it's neck out and caught all of them before they could.

"Quickly Kooper! Make haste to Toad Town! Save your friends!" Eldstar said, and then turned right as Lava Piranha swallowed him. "No!" Kooper said, moving forward, but Lava Piranha looked up at him and flew forward.

Kooper quickly jumped to the side, barely avoiding the Lava Piranha, and then he started to run down the twisting-path leading up to Shooting Star Summit. Behind him, the roar from the Lava Piranha was growing louder and louder as it drew nearer.

"No no no! It'll catch me easily!" Kooper said to himself. Glancing back, he could see the Lava Piranha almost upon him...

But another shape suddenly leaped in between them. "What?" Kooper said, stopping and turning around. In front of him was none-other than Merluvlee, the fortune teller. She muttered a few words, and the Lava Piranha seemed to run into a sort of invisible wall in front of her.

"Quickly! Let us leave!" she said, and Kooper followed her, looking behind him one last time at the Lava Piranha, who was still confused by the invisible wall.


Merluvlee led Kooper to the bridge leading to Toad Town. "Quick, I can disguise you as a guard so that you may enter Bowser's Castle," she said. "Wait," Kooper said, "What about you?"

Merluvlee giggled. "Do not worry. I am here to help you with your mission. If I am captured, that is of no importance." she told him. Then, she rested her hands on his shoulders, and, in a poof of smoke, he looked exactly like one of Bowser's armored Koopas.

"Wow!" Kooper said. "Now, you must go." Merluvlee said, turning and running back towards Shooting Star Summit.

Kooper turned to see two guards walking towards him. "Hey, you!" they said. Kooper gulped. "Y-Yeah?" he asked. "Why are you here? Bowser told all of the guards to come and watch his speech!"

Kooper looked around nervously. "W-Well, why are you both here then?" he asked. The guards looked at each other. "Good point! Let's go!" they said, and Kooper reluctantly followed them.


Once inside of the castle, Kooper managed to stray away from the two guards, knowing that, while the guards were busy with Bowser's speech, he could free his friends.

When he arrived at the holding cells near the back of the castle, he was relieved to find that not even one guard was standing there. As he crept closer, he could hear his friend's voices coming from inside:

"I can't believe this! You guys were supposed to save us, not get captured!" Goombario said bitterly. "Oh Goombario, don't blame them." Bombette's voice came. "Yeah dude, and Kooper is still out there, maybe he can come save us?" Lakilester said.

"Doubtable," Moustafa said, "But it is our only chance." There was silence for a few moments, and Watt then said, "But...what if he can't do this?" Kooper walked up to the bars of the cell, and said, "Don't worry, I can."

Everyone jumped up and looked at him. "Kooper?" Bow said, "Why do you look like one of those wuss guards?" Kooper looked around at his friends, who all had uncertain looks on their faces. "Don't worry, it was Merluvlee's way of getting me into the castle."

After a few moments, Goombario said, "Oh, well...I guess it's you then." Lakilester floated towards the bars and told him, "Rad! Get us out of here then!" Kooper looked at the lock on the cell. "Uh...I don't have the key." he said.

Everyone sighed, but jumped as footsteps could be heard coming their way. "Everyone! Act normal!" Kooper said, and the group dispersed.

"Man, I can't believe I have to guard the prisoners while Bowser is giving his-" a guard said to himself as he walked in, but stopped when he saw Kooper. "Hey, why are you here?" he asked. "Uh...I was put to guard the prisoners." Kooper explained.

The guard scratched his head. "Well...I guess I can return then! Thanks man!" he said, turning to walk away, but Kooper ran over and grabbed him, throwing him into the wall, and knocking him out. He then checked the guard, and eventually found the key.

"Good job Kooper!" Goombario exclaimed, and Kooper unlocked the cell and let everyone out. "Now, we need to get out of here." Kooper told them. "Why?" Goombario said, "We should take down Bowser right now!"

"Yeah!" Lakilester said. "Now now," Bombette said, "We can't go rushing into this! We'll probably need some more help!" Kooper nodded, and told everyone, "The honorable Star Spirits are in trouble! We need to go save them, because they can give us the power we need to bring Bowser down!"

Everyone had a surprised look on their faces for a moment. "The honorable Star Spirits in trouble?" Moustafa said, "How could that be?" Kooper started to explain, "Skolar betrayed them; He's been working to stop us from defeating Bowser all along!"

The group was even more surprised, and started to murmur amongst each other...But stopped as they saw a guard walk into the room.

"What the-" the guard said. Kooper quickly retreated into his shell and shot himself forward, but the guard dodged it and ran out, yelling, "Everyone! The prisoners have escaped!"

"Great..." Bow said. "What do we do now? Surely we can't beat all of those guards!" Watt exclaimed.

Kooper sighed. "Well, it looks like we'll have to try!"

To be continued...

Next Part – The Great Escape!